I had just turned 13. I already knew the world was cruel. It had taken so many people away from me, I didn't need to be told it was. I can't count how many friends I've lost because there are too many. But I do recall one. Even though I wasn't there, I remember it very clearly. Marijuana. A drug that is supposed to make people happy can cause bloodshed. Me and my friends were years apart from each other, but that didn't stop us from hanging out. It didn't stop them from selling weed. They're adults, I understood they had bills to pay. It didn't stop the bullet that ended Aaron's life. 3 days before my mom's 44th birthday and exactly a month after my 13th, he was lying in the hospital. I was asleep and mom couldn't open the door fast enough to see him being carried out by the paramedics. I'm not even sure where he was shot or what exact time he died. All I could hear was the newscast or saying, "An 18 year old, Aaron King, was shot yesterday. He was taken to Storming Vail Hospital..." The house was quiet. "... where he later died. Now for the weather." I walked around the room, tears dropping on the floor. When I finally stopped crying, the sky did for me. I went out and rejoiced in the rain, letting Aaron pour down on me. I squinted in the sunlight and saw the most vague, but the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. I went back inside with a smile on my face, but the news was still on. They flashed clips of police walking onto our porch. Nobody saw Aaron or the porch like I did. During the day, Cole, Aaron and Brooke would smoke while Myka picked flowers for me. At night they'd smoke blunts while I gazed at the lightning that decorated the sky. We made small talk just so they'd let me know I was included. When nobody else was around, wes share secrets and have deep conversations. I turn back to the TV. I didn't just lose Aaron. I lost Brooke, Cole, and Myka too. Except they had moved away, not out of this world. I know these are just names to you, but they're so much more than just words. Now I've finally releases these emotions and you've learned about my experience. Deep in my heart, I believe he's hanging out with Brooke and Cole, moved back in with his old roommates, or maybe his ex girlfriend felt sorry enough for him that they got back together. Deep in my brain, I know he's gone, wiped out of existence. I might be reading this to you days or even years after it happened, but it makes me realize every moment is precious and that we should treat the ones we love like its the last time we see them.
